1. Field of Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate in general to computing system manufacturing processes. More specifically, the embodiments of the present invention relate to methods and systems for quantifying the quality of diagnostic software used in testing computing systems.
2. Description of the Background Art
Diagnostic software is used for testing a newly manufactured computing system, and runs on the Central Processing Unit (CPU) of the computing system being tested. The diagnostic software includes a set of diagnostic tests targeting individual Integrated Circuits (ICs) present in the computing system, as well as whole computing system. The diagnostic tests provide different inputs to the ICs. The outputs of these inputs are then compared with expected output values. Once the computing system is tested, it is loaded with software; after which it undergoes alpha and beta testing before being finally released to customers.
The quality of the computing system depends on the quality of the diagnostic software. Therefore, the percentage of the design of the computing system that is covered by the diagnostic software is very important. Currently, there are no tools available that can quantify the quality of diagnostic tests and determine the amount of hardware coverage provided by the diagnostic software.